Sunday, October 31

Nanching, 2:51pm.

In transit between the airport and the city. I realize I've been a day off in my reckoning, which I suspected. Not that it really matters. I only really need to stay with the group, not know what day it is.

One thing -- I've been enjoying the tea a great deal here. It's so different from what we drink in the states. Reminds me a little of barley tea, mild as I prefer it.

We had a leisurely lunch in a hotel restaurant by the airport and then went to the terminal and found the flight being called, evidently earlier than it had been scheduled. So a scramble to get on the plane -- check bags, get boarding passes, go through security, and of course I ended up in the very last row. The woman occupying my seat got a phone call and wasn't moving, and finally I made and emphatic gesture for her to move over, and she did. They fed us on the flight -- a small container of hot rice, vegetables, and shrimp. Even though we had already eaten, I ate the rice and vegetables, and accepted the bottle of water, keeping the half that was left to drink later.